Interview with Caliaponia · 3:09am Apr 10th, 2016
Have another interview! Despite being the second one posted, Cal's was actually started first.
You probably know Caliaponia for writing Just Passing Through or The Floor Is Lava, though I hear that he's spent some time in the writeoffs. Maybe if you're from the future, you'll remember his novel.
Is there anything that you want us to know about yourself?
Probably the closest I come to a motto or philosophy is “Moderation in all things, including moderation.” That and the golden rule. I’m very passionate about environmental issues. I will also talk your ear off about KSP (Kerbal Space Program) given the opportunity.
I started keeping a daily journal on March 1, 2010. Most of the entries are terribly boring, but it’s up to almost 330,000 words now. I don’t know if it’s helped my writing at all, but I find it a useful practice. Starting on Jun 21, 2013, I also began recording at least one (trying for three) things each day that I am/was grateful for. While not night and day, I think it has improved my mindset.
I’ve got some fun pony pictures on my deviantart page, and also started the PoniesAroundTheWorld group, after I had more pictures than EQD was accepting submissions. It’s still not officially affiliated with EQD, and quiet most of the time, but I try to look in on it occasionally, and of course it picks up for the annual event.
Is there anything that you don’t want us to know about yourself?
That would rather defeat the point, now, wouldn’t it?
Are there specific aspects of the environment/specific issues that you pay more attention to?
Global Warming is the big one, with resource depletion / general sustainability as related issues.
While I agree with, and will happily vote for, other worthy causes, they're on the back burner, because if civilization collapses, then all that other progress goes away.
I find myself torn. On the one hand, I see a not-implausible quasi-magical techno-singularity utopia. But on the other, I see grave real-world issues that could knock that ladder over right as we’re climbing up it.
To clarify, I don’t consider climate change an existential threat to humanity. Rather, I consider it a grave threat to society / civilization. Just look how much chaos Syria has caused regionally and globally, and that was just one insignificant middle-eastern country that was destabilized by a major drought.
What if the wheels start coming off in bigger, more important countries and regions? For example, there is a risk that the Indian monsoon might fail. With the modern interlinked global trade and economy, is it safe to assume that such a large scale problem would be contained to a single country?
And if a global collapse does happen, consider the issue of rebuilding. Historically, society has advanced on the back of energy and food availability; primitive technology can only access easily available resources, which are then used to access more abundant, but harder to get resources.
How, then, would society rebuild itself when the available hydrocarbons are beneath two miles of water and rock? Chicken and egg problem.
And while I’m not fond of telemarketers, I do enjoy hospitals, the Internet, etc.. So, much as I may enjoy watching Mad Max, I want to do what I can to keep it on the screen. Consider me a 'hope for the best, but work to avoid the worst' type of fellow.
Are there other notable influences on your writing that you are aware of?
My folks owned a bookstore for several years when I was a kid, so I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy when I was younger. Probably my first big three authors were Anne McCaffrey, Mercedes Lackey and Piers Anthony. Of course I also wound up liking Tolkien, Asimov, etc. as well.
Outside of some (in hindsight terrible) stories written for high school and college classes, MLP is the only real fiction writing I’ve done.
Since then, I’ve benefitted from reading some of the resources Fimfiction authors have been compiling to support themselves / each other, most recently the Writeoffs (which were the genesis of The Floor is Lava).
I’ve also started trying to improve my skill through more traditional channels; I’m currently reading Stephen King’s ‘On Writing.’
There’s also the experience living and working overseas, and the benefit of learning a second language, which I believe have made me more mentally flexible, though I’d be hard pressed to point to a specific example of their influence.
Aside from the concept of The Floor is Lava, what have you gotten out of the Writeoffs?
A few things. At minimum, it puts me under the gun to write, which I can struggle with otherwise.
The prompts are a mixed bag; sometimes they help to stimulate the imagination, but other times I find myself stuck. Getting past that and writing anyway is not fun, but it may be useful.
There’s also the reviews, both giving and receiving. Receiving is somewhat self-evident; you find out what went wrong with a particular story, and can hopefully generalize the feedback to help the rest of your writing. But writing them forces you to read a story more deeply than you might otherwise, and really pay attention to detail. That can be useful in noting both what to do, and what not to do.
The writeoffs are not easy. Or at least, not for me they aren’t. But neither is doing push-ups or running laps, and I think they are useful in the same way. While I can’t point to a sea change as a result of them, I think there has been some benefit.
That appears to be an indication that you see writing as something worth investing in, so what do you hope to achieve with/want to get out of your writing?
Two things, really. First, I’m tired of the corporate rat race, and the idea of writing as either living or supplement appeals to me if I can pull it off. Second, I plan to incorporate environmental ideas and themes in my work, and if I do someday get traction, it’d be nice to have some small influence on public opinion.
That’s the good case. But even if it doesn’t pan out, I can say I tried. It also doesn’t hurt that writing is cheaper than a lot of other hobbies, with ancillary benefits such as improving my communication skills, and hanging out with a really cool bunch of creative types in the meantime.
I have not read either of them (yet), but I notice that two out of three stories that you have published on Fimfiction are tagged with “human.” Do/did you feel drawn towards writing in humans, or is this just coincidence?
Not knowingly, at least, though I’ve always liked HiE. Many stories tell of some interesting, dramatic event, and the collision of Earth and Equestria would certainly fit the bill. I also have a tendency to get hung up on realism and plausibility, though, which makes HIE stories a balancing act.
The main problem with HiE is that any first contact scenario would quickly escalate, at least on the earth side. Some stories play it straight, which leads to sprawling epics, and there are ways to sidestep the issue, (one off / fluke transportation to Equestria) but most of that ground has been thoroughly explored. I am very much idea / concept based, and try to go with something that feels fresh.
If I’m lucky, I’ll get some sort of seed; a line or a particularly vivid mental image. Once I have a seed, it’s a matter of looking at it from different angles and seeing the implications, which then bounces off of other ideas in my head until I find some sort of configuration where they start to fit together and feel compelling.
For example, Just Passing Through had me idly pondering Cloudsdale, and how it’d be cool to explore, but that planes are kind of a terrible way to do it. That led to the idea of a hang glider, as one of the few realistic ways a human could interact with pegasus in a similar frame, which spiraled into thinking about how, despite the similarity, they were playing by very different sets of rules. The comedy just kind of showed up to the party.
The Floor is Lava started with the prompt ‘Distant Shores’ and subverting the image of a shining beacon atop a seaside bluff. While Filly Twilight has been done before, at least for that contest, it was a fun way to subvert the prompt compared to the rest of the nautical themed fics I felt sure would inevitably result.
Unfortunately, my idea-first approach also leads me to writing from a big picture, top-down perspective where I know ‘so-and-so does X’, but I haven’t really fleshed out the details of how, or why the character would actually do so. Then when it comes time to put the words on the screen, I struggle with the characterization and having them plausibly do it.
I’ll bite. Space planes or rockets? (KSP)
Heh. Spaceplanes. Rockets are fun, but I like the challenge of building a good spaceplane, and once you do, they are more efficient to run than rockets. I also tend to like the look of them.
The main disadvantages are that they take longer to get into orbit, and can’t haul as much, but I’m still pretty lousy at running missions to the outer planets anyhow. Overall, I’d consider myself a better builder than a pilot.
(I’ll just leave this here: https://xkcd.com/1356/)
Okay, your current Bio states that you write like a “speeding glacier.” To say nothing of the joke in there, how fast/slow of a writer do you see yourself to be, and is that in terms of how much you can write when you put in time, or how often you put in time?
Perhaps ironically, as part of the research for my original fiction work, I learned that glaciers can travel several meters per day. I’m not sure exactly how that would translate into writing terms, but I suspect it’s better than I manage. So, yes, I consider myself a slow writer.
When looked at in terms of productivity vs. focus, while I’d like to improve both, putting in the time seems to be more of a hurdle. While still paltry compared to some of the other writers on the site, when pressed and/or focused by things such as a writeoff deadline, I can write over 2000 words/day.
The problem is sitting down, getting started, and then not losing focus. The internet is probably my main nemesis, though as far as the ‘speed’ thing goes, getting stuck on what to write is an easy way to kill my focus. I’ll also sometimes get hung up on looking up some details.
I’ve tried tactics such as buying scrivener or setting a pomodoro timer, and I like to think they’ve helped, at least temporarily, but haven’t found any magic bullets yet. I did back the freewrite kickstarter (back when it was known as hemmingwrite). While I don’t want to get my hopes up, it will at least be impossible for me to get distracted by surfing the internet while using the unit. Fingers crossed.
For those that don’t participate in (or have anything to do with) the writeoffs, and given that The Floor is Lava is the only story published on Fimfiction as a result of them, can you describe some of the stories that you have created for them?
Well, I’ve written about a dozen stories, but only a few have made the finals round. Those are probably the only ones really worth mentioning.
• The Floor is Lava (originally known as Odyssey) was written for the ‘Distant Shores’ prompt. It’s interesting to see the evolution from the writeoff version to the polished version I ended up with.
• ‘Foundation’ was for the ‘Best Laid Plans’ prompt. It’s a brief glimpse of the pre-Pinkie Pie family, and their efforts to plan out the family future.
• ‘Gazing’ was for the ‘Illusion of Choice’ prompt. The Twilight of an AU where she didn’t give up her power to Tirk, and her friends die as a result, looks in on the show universe. This one would be a good seed for a larger story, if I wasn’t overcommitted.
• ‘Passing the Ball’ was also for ‘Illusion of Choice’ - this one was an absurd little comedy about the 6 going up against the dastardly Genre Savvy.
• ‘Curses’ is for ‘Things Left Unsaid’ and is a short, humorous look into the relationship between Daring Do and Ahuizotl.So far, aside from Floor is Lava, all my finalists seem to be in minific rounds (400 - 750 words) for whatever reason.
A few questions ago, you mentioned that you struggle with characterization in your stories. Do you think this is more of a result of how you plan them, or is this something that you think you’d have difficulty with anyway? Further, what aspects of writing fiction that you think, through planning or otherwise, you are best at?
Hmm. One of the roots of it is that I’m just not really a people person. It takes a fair amount of mental energy to put myself in someone else’s shoes, especially if their personality is different than my own. Then there are keeping track of the interactions; who knows what? What are they feeling now, how will that affect their actions, which will in turn affect what the others are feeling. Plus, a character is not in a vacuum, as soon as you start adding more detail to them, they develop the world as well… It’s all just very complicated for me.
If a character is really important, a useful tool I’ve found is character trees, but generating one is a fair amount of work, and I will typically only invest it for one or two main characters. The Mane 6 are a useful crutch in this respect, as they’ve been around long enough, and read about them in so many different situations, that I have a pretty solid feel for them.
Also, It’s not really a matter of planning, but one of my strengths is physical description. I have a vivid imagination, and a pretty good vocabulary, so when describing the physical environment, I can usually (I think) evoke a feeling and paint a picture in the minds eye.
That said, I have a hard time describing individuals. In that respect, writing ponies may actually be easier than writing humans. With ponies, if you give out their coat color, hair color, cutie mark, and maybe body type, you’re golden. Humans are more nuanced, and it’s not something I’m particularly great at noticing / remembering in real life, so it is hard to reflect in fiction.
For those who didn’t pick up on it, you have been working on an original piece of fiction. You’ve already stated that you haven’t written much fiction outside of MLP, so from that perspective, how would you compare the process and result of writing original vs. pony fiction?
I think it kind of boils down to an aspect of the paradox of choice. In original fiction you can do anything. With fanfiction, there is a paring down of scope. While confining, it can also act to channel the author’s creative energy and, counterintuitively inspire novel ways in getting around the limitations.
Also, characterization. I touched on it already, but fanfiction in general and MLP in particular can be a crutch in letting the author reuse strong premade characters. Character re-use is not just a simple matter of conservation of energy, either. With MLP, you already know the characters -- you like the characters. With original fiction, you have to discover who they are as you write them.
Worldbuilding is huge as well. Not having to worry about contradicting canon may seem great at first. But as you make changes and add elements to the world, they ripple out and affect each other. The more you add, the more interactions and complications pile up. This is the kind of thing that makes for an interesting story, but it’s a lot of work to keep track of, and any mistakes can rapidly lead to plot holes.
I think in general it’s safe to say that original fiction is a higher level of difficulty, in that you have to execute well almost all of the same skills as fanfiction, and then also master some new ones on top of it.
Lastly, In the context of everything above, what do you think of the positive reception of your stories, given that the sum of the three you’ve posted as of yet currently add up to about 21,000 total views?
I find it both humbling and encouraging. For reference, I grew up in a town of only about 4,000, so it can be odd to think that more than five times that number have looked at my work. It’s encouraging in that almost two thousand of those views have resulted in a like, which gives me hope that I have developed some ability to write.
It’s great knowing when your story has reached someone, especially when it brightens their day. And though likes are wonderful, comments are probably my favorite part. In particular, going over the comments for ‘The Floor is Lava’ always brings a smile to my face. I think there’s one spot where I got four comments in a row that included some variation of ‘adorable.’ That’s a lot of fun.
I also consider myself fortunate that I was able to get a substantial audience with just my second story; I know a lot of authors struggle to achieve much traction. My first story was a dud (not unjustly), but luckily for JPT, I followed the commonly-given advice to ‘get an editor and/or pre-readers,’ and doubly lucky that one of those was Kwakerjack, who was kind enough to give me an early signal boost, followed by getting the story accepted to EQD. I’ve written other stories since then (the aforementioned writeoffs), but only really developed those that had a lot of potential.
It does makes me feel guilty, that I haven’t done a better job of updating JPT. I actually do have the rest of the story plotted out, and I think it’s actually pretty awesome. That said, my original fiction work is related to one of my biggest concerns, the aforementioned climate change, so I’ve made a conscious effort to focus my energy where I feel it is most consequential and time-critical. I’m trying to use that as extra pressure to improve myself and increase my writing speed, so I can get to a point where I feel comfortable about investing substantial amounts of time into ponyfic again.
Are you able and/or willing to answer questions that are posted to this blog post for the next few days?
Of course!
The fun has now been doubled! If you'd like to know anything more from/about Caliaponia that wasn't covered in this interview, just post your own questions below! (Comments regarding my end of the interview are best placed here.)
Cal had some fun with formatting, and the import button paid the price. I think everything has been made to match the document exactly as it was. Aside from formatting, though, I promise that I didn't touch his answers.
Not even "Tirk".
My thanks to FanofMostEverything for telling me to copy and paste the bullet points instead of get all fancy with BBcode that doesn't seem to exist.
3860179
Blarg. You could've fixed the Tirk
Anyhow, fun interview, thanks for the questions, and I hope some of the readers enjoy it.